A Simple Guide to Clearing Your Entire Gmail Inbox
Want to delete all your mail at once? No problem! I’ll show you how.
When you’re ready, find the empty box located above all your emails. It’s right next to the word “Select.” Click the small arrow right next to it, and a menu will pop up.
From there, you’ll see several options. Look for the one that says “All.” This is what we want. Click on it, and voila! Every single email in your Gmail inbox will be selected.
Now, you might be wondering how to actually delete them. It’s super easy. Just find the trash can icon at the top of the page and give it a click. Say goodbye to those old emails cluttering up your inbox!
When you’re looking to clean up your inbox by getting rid of certain types of emails, you can easily do so from the menu. Just follow the instructions below:
If you want to remove all Unstarred emails, first click on “Unstarred” in the menu. Then, simply check the empty box to select all of them.
Similarly, if you want to delete all of your unread emails, you can do it in the same way. Just click on “Unread” and then check the empty box to select all of the specified emails.
How to Delete All Mail by Using “Select All”
Step One – Selecting Emails
Alright, now that you know how to select all emails, it’s time to begin the deletion process.
First things first, let’s start by choosing the emails we want to get rid of. Now, how do we do that? Well, it all depends on how your email account is set up. Some email interfaces have a neat little list on the left side where you can find different categories. Others have tabs at the top of your inbox, separating everything out for you.
Once you’ve found the right spot, it’s time to start selecting those emails. One way to do this is by clicking on the empty box. This will select all the emails in that category. But maybe you only want to delete certain ones. No problem! Just use the drop-down menu to specify which ones you want to select.
Now, a little heads up. If you’ve got more than 50 emails selected, you might see a message asking if you want to select all the emails in that category. This is just a friendly reminder in case you accidentally went a little overboard with your selection.
If you want to get rid of all the messages in this folder or category, simply click on this link. When you’re ready, find the small garbage can icon in the upper toolbar and use it to delete the emails you’ve selected.
Deleting Email with the Search Bar
You can also customize your mass deletions by using the search bar in your email. Just type in the filter or keyword you want to use. If you want to narrow down your search even more, click on the little arrow on the right side of the search bar.
Gmail can help you sort and organize your emails by filtering out specific ones. You have the power to define the criteria for filtering, such as:
- The sender of the email
- The recipient of the email
- The subject line of the email
- Specific keywords that should be included in the email
- Keywords that should be omitted from the email
- The size of the email
- The date of the email
- The folders or categories that Gmail should search through
If you’re looking at your search results, you can click on the empty box to select all the emails and then click on the Trash Can icon to delete them.
Also, you don’t need to be so specific when deleting your emails. This feature is useful if you have several emails with the same subject line or keyword, or multiple emails from the same sender.
Instead of going through each email to decide whether you want to delete it, you can use the advanced search filter to save yourself some time.
Delete All Emails from Your Trash Folder
Is your trash folder filling up with emails? You can delete them all in one go. Just open your trash folder and you’ll see all the emails in there.
Instead of selecting each email individually, you may find an option to empty your entire folder. By clicking “Empty Trash now,” everything in the folder will be deleted automatically.
Hey there, let me tell you something interesting about Gmail. Did you know that it automatically deletes all your messages after 30 days? But if you’re in a hurry and can’t wait, you can delete them manually.
Deleting is Permanent
I want to stress how important it is that once you delete an email, it’s gone forever. Whether you delete all your emails or just specific folders, there’s no way to bring them back.
Occasionally, you might see a message giving you the option to undo the deletion, but it’s not always there, and it doesn’t stay on the screen for long. So you can’t rely on it to reverse your action.
Now, if you accidentally delete an email that you wanted to keep, don’t panic just yet. Take a look in your Trash folder, as it might still be there. But remember, the Trash folder automatically clears itself after a month, so you need to check it as soon as possible.
Here’s a heads up: if you’re someone who regularly empties your Trash folder, you won’t be able to recover those deleted emails. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. So make sure you’re careful when you decide to do this clean-up and only delete what you really don’t need.
Final Thoughts
Remember, when you delete all your mail from Gmail, it’s gone forever. So be cautious if you’re thinking of getting rid of everything, and make sure you don’t accidentally delete something important. Just keep in mind that when you first delete something, it goes into your trash folder, so if you’re trying to clear space in your inbox, you’ll need to delete them from there as well.
If your goal is to organize your inbox and find emails more easily, instead of mass deletion, consider using categories and folders. Once you set them up, they’re a great way to automatically sort your emails into different categories. This also makes it safer when deleting a group of emails, so you won’t accidentally delete something you didn’t mean to.
Lastly, if you’re determined to delete all your mail, it’s just a few clicks away. Use the methods mentioned above to get rid of those unnecessary emails that are taking up valuable storage space.